Italy vs Ukraine Preview

Italy will look to continue rebuilding their team for the next major competition when they take on Ukraine in this friendly game while Ukraine will look to build on their good recent form in this game after missing out on the last World Cup.

Failure to qualify for the last World Cup was a major disappointment for Italian football and they are looking to turn things around quickly having named Roberto Mancini as their new manager.

One problem Italian football seems to have is the presence of a recognizable striker that can deliver on the International stage and that explains why Mancini has had to recall Mario Balotellii however the former Manchester City striker hasn’t been on form this season.

During the last international break, Italy played two games against France and the Netherlands where they lost to France and drew 1:1 against the Netherlands.

They have now won just one of their last seven international games which was a 2-1 win over Saudi Arabia.

Ukraine come into this game off the back of a 4-1 away win over Albania, and that was the 4th time they have avoided defeat in as many friendly games.

Ukraine will be keen to keep that record going against Italy in this game.

Bookmakers make Italy slight odds-on favourites to come out on top while goal markets suggest this game will be a tight, low-scoring affair.

This game kicks off at 19:45 BST.

Results of each team’s last 5 matches across all leagues and competitions